The T-211 is a light aircraft designed in the US by John Thorp in 1945. It is a low-wing monoplane of conventional layout with a fixed tricycle undercarriage and a sliding canopy. John Thorp developed the Sky Scooter with lessons learned from developing the Lockheed Little Dipper project in 1944. It bears some family resemblance to the Piper Cherokee, a design that Thorp later significantly contributed to.

Development

right|thumb|2005-built Indus T211 Sky Scooter

John Thorp started the initial design for a small two-seat light aircraft, which became the T-11, while he was working at Lockheed's Vega Division, developing it in parallel with the single-seat Little Dipper. Following the end of the Second World War, Thorp left Lockheed and set up his own company in Burbank, California to build the T-11, soon moving to Van Nuys. The first prototype, registration NX-91301, made its maiden flight on August 15, 1946.

Thorp constructed eight prototypes, had the design certified by the FAA but was unable to find a foothold in the Cessna-dominated post-war US market. The original prototypes were powered by a 65 hp Lycoming engine. Novel features of the Sky Scooter include an all-movable horizontal stabilizer and externally ribbed wings and tailplane. The wings were corrugated to impart stiffness, each wing needing only three internal ribs. This feature simplified construction, reduced the number of rivets (and weight), and helped control the spanwise flow of air over the wings. The kits were then manufactured by AD Aerospace in the United Kingdom and Venture Light Aircraft in the United States.

IndUS Aviation began production of the T-211 according to the guidelines of Light Sport Aircraft in the mid-2000s. The Thorp T-211 was the first US-designed Special Light Sport Aircraft to receive certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. The light-sport version uses the Jabiru 3300 engine, while the type certified version uses a Continental O-200 engine and is equipped for both VFR and IFR flying.

In 2010, the aircraft was also back in production as a kit aircraft by AD Aerospace of Manchester, United Kingdom. This model is powered by a four-cylinder Continental O-200 or a six-cylinder Jabiru 3300 powerplant.

Variants

;Thorp Sky Scooter

:1946

;Piper PA-10

:Sky Scooter derivative proposed by Piper Aircraft. The PA-10 was to have been powered by a engine. The project was canceled in 1946 without any being built. Piper revisited the idea of producing a derivative of the Sky Scooter in 1952. However, in 1957, Piper instead chose to build a clean sheet design as the Piper PA-28 Cherokee, with preliminary design work being conducted by John Thorp.

;Thorp T-211

:1953

;Tubular Aircraft Products

:1965 - Built 100 parts kits with Continental O-200 powerplants with 11 production models built

;Thorp Aero

:1983 - Purchased rights and tooling

;IndUS Aviation

:LSA production in India

Specifications (T-211)

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • IndUS Aviation*  
  • FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet for the AD Aerospace T-211